Index book for filing systems



C. F. McBEE.

INDEX BOOK FOR FILING SYSTEMS. APILlcMloN mio SEPT. 11. |921.

l1,418,315. PatenaJune 6,1922.

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INDEX BOOK FOR- FILING SYSTEMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6,1922.

Application led September 17, 1921. Serial No. 501,382.

To all whom t maycof/zcern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. MGBEE,

a citizen of the United States, .residing at Athens, in the county of Athens and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Index Book for Filing Sy following is a specification.

My invention relates to filing systems and has for its object to providey a competent, eflicient and truly accurate index boolr which, without the necessity of close calculation or study, will enable a person to place proper reference characters on a communication so that it may be quickly filed inl its proper place, and may be instantly located at any desired time.

F or convenience and brevity I have illustrated, and shall describe, my invention in its adaptation to the filing systems of thev transportation lines of the country.

" stems, of which the v In the conduct of general affairs of transportation lines, railway, Steamship, aerial, and others, a great multiplicity of oiiices are maintained and each oliice must have its own, independent, filing system. It will be understood that any one of these oflices may 'have correspondence with other offices on its road, its own head oce, or with offices or officers of other roads, or even with private personages orv business interests, andthe.

great volume ot' this correspondence covers such a `varied and multiplicityof subjectsl that no adequate system of generalA filing has heretofore been' devised.

The lack of such a system hascaused much confusion among the various oliices and has otherwise caused much delay and oftentimes irreparable damage. `This has been, unfortunately, forcibly demonstrated during the period the railway systems of this'country were consolidated, and it is to the solving of this problem that my invention is directed.

My invention resides in the taking of all of the varied transportation means and grouping them together, preferably in alphabetical arrangement, each road having a designating numeral by which (through my system) it becomes identified and known throughout the allied transportation systems. In like manner I have, with great care and thought, prepared va list of all subjects concerning which the various offices might have correspondence, or which might in any manner affect them, and each of these subjects is identified by a character, preferably a numeral.

A full and complete understanding of my invention will be more readily obtained by reference to the following description and cla1mstalren in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure I is a plan view of an open book showing the sheets on which the namesof some railways are tabulated and showing also their respective identifying numerals; and

Figure II shows a similar view, the book being open to'eXpose some of the subject listings` with their identifying numerals.

Referring' to the accompanying drawings the reference numeral l0 is used to indicate a book, the body portion of which is made up of two groups of leavesthegroup 11 containing the names of all the transportation lines, preferably arranged alphabetically, each provided with its identifying numeral 12, and the group lcontaining an alphabetical listing of all subjects, each with its identifying numeral 14.

It will be noted the names of the roads are alphabetically arranged and their respective identifying numerals precede them, and like-- wise the list of subjects arey alphabetically arranged and their respective identifying numerals precede them. AThis is the pref-` My invention, comprised by the book` made up as herein described, contains as hereinbefore set forth, a listingof all transportation lines, and all possible subjects on which they would have correspondence, and is designed to be placed in'every office so that itsuse and effectiveness will becomplete and universal in character. However, it is not at all necessary to its utility that all roads adopt it, for it will be just as effective to the road adopting it as though all roads had done so.

In its practical operation we will assume a bureau of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway is writing to the Pennsylvania Railway relative to absorption of terminal switching charges. 38 is known by the writer to be the number of his own road; 945 is found to be the number of the subject and 24C is found to be the number ofthe road he is Writing to. These file numbers are placed upon the letterV and appear as follows:

(es) 945.24. d This communication, bearing the identifying numerals as stated, is filed in the forwarding voiic'e under 945--24, and in the' receiving office under W15-38. ln replying, the arrangement of the numerals appearing on thev letter would be'reversed and read-(24) 9455-38. i

While it is most desirable the Writer should'alway's give his number, it does not affect the proper filing if he should fail to do so, asthe number' can be located at once by reference to the book, by the party receiving the letter.

In manyl offices certain bureaus are established and When such is the case, the Writerused his ovvntbureau character as anaddition to the above.v For instance, We will assume-it is Bureau H that is Writing the letter. These file numbers are then placed on the letter and appear as follows:

(es) aan-24.

coi-dance therewith, Will cause vevery letter going out of, or being received in that oiice, to be filed not only as to the road but as tothe subject matter of 'the letter, and my book is an effective keyv for accomplishing this `and *forv locating any letter instantly when it is Ycalled for. Practical demons-trations of its use 'have already been made by leadingrailways ofthe country, which have adoptediuand has proven that any letter It is instantly apparent the adoptionv ofr -my book by and one office, and filing in accal-led for can be instantly located by a le clerk. It has also proven exceedingly effective as a labor-saver, for one file-clerk can do the Work whichherewfore required the services of a large number.

One great object accomplished by my invention is to standardize and unify the Work between transportation lines', for interchangeof correspondence, relative to numerous subjects, is essential, and heretofore much confusion through inadequacy of filing has occurred and many times letters are completelyrlost and great damage has resulted. My invention, already adopted by manyof them, has clariied that condition and is forcefully proving its utility.

`For convenience, I-have described my invention as it is used inthe office of transiortation lines, but it can be applied with equal force and utility to any other branches of industry, and I do not Wish to be understood as limiting the invention to any particular class.

Having thus described by invention, what I claim vand desire to secure by Letters j Patent of the United States is:

l. An index' bookfor filing systems comprising agroup of leaves containing a classified list of allied industries, and an identifying character for each of same, and a classified list of subjects, pertaining to possible correspondence matters, and an identifying character for each subject'.

2. An index book for ling systems comprising a group of leaves containing an alphabetically arranged list of allied industries and a referencev character for each of the same, and a second group of leaves containing an alphabetically arranged list f of subj ects pertaining to said industries With a reference character for each subject.

3. An index book for tiling/systems comprising a list of industries `arranged for convenient reference and an identifying character for each industry, With a list of subjects applying to the industries, arranged for convenient reference andv an identifying character for each subject..

CHARLES F. MCBEE.

Witnessesn 1 i G'vvnNDoLYN JAMES,

CHARLES EMERSON. 

